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A study of the results of bacteriological autopsy in a group of cancer patients compared with a control group was carried out. Autopsy was performed on 42 bodies within 24 hours of death. Thirty-two patients had died with a cancer and the remaining ten had died of cardiovascular disease. Tissue for microscopy and material and culture were taken from the same sites. The results of the inoculations were semiquantified, resulting in a culture score, and the results of the microscopy were classified according to presence of bacteria and kind of inflammation. Furthermore, grading was done according to the degree of inflammation and whether bacteria were seen at microscopy. The culture scores were significantly higher in the cancer group than in the control group. We found a significant correlation between score and presence of acute inflammation. Likewise, a significant correlation was found between score and presence of bacteria at microscopy. As a difference between the cancer group and the control group was seen, further research on bacteriological autopsy seems worthwhile.

The two aims of this investigation were: 1. To compare a swab culture technique with an imprint method in bacteriological autopsy. 2. To examine the influence of body manipulation on culture. Specimens were taken from the lungs and the spleen in 42 autopsies. For imprint a piece of sterile blotting paper was used. Point 1. Good qualitative agreement was found between the two methods. Print cultures enabled a quantitation at low numbers of bacteria. However, in most cases when growth was present the colonies were confluent, which did not allow counting. The lung cultures were 67%/69% positive (swab/print). For the spleen, the positive rate was 21%/42% (swab/print). In the cases representing the difference, only a few colonies grew on the print plates. Culture by means of a swab was found to give the same information as culture by imprint. Swabs are easier to handle but should be processed within a couple of hours. Point 2. In ten autopsies, cultures were taken with organs in situ after the organ block was removed and after an ordinary autopsy had been performed. A scoring system was used to compare the results. There was a clear correlation between positive cultures and manipulation of the organs. The specimens should be taken with the organs in situ.

We propose and demonstrate a new integrated-optic TE/TM splitter using a polarization-selective Ti:LiNbO(3) directional coupler. By application of appropriate voltages, either polarization can be selected (cross talk will be below -30 dB) or both TE and TM modes can be simultaneously extracted (cross talk will be -24 dB).

Tumors of the fallopian tube are extremely rare. A case of a papilloma occluding the right fallopian tube of a woman with primary sterility is reported.

We have achieved complete electro-optic TE <--> TM mode conversion in Ti-diffused lithium niobate waveguides with as little as a 2.5-V drive. Because, for birefringent substrates like lithium niobate, TE <--> TM conversion is wavelength dependent, our method is potentially useful for wavelength multiplexing and demultiplexing. Three independently controlled mode converters, each with a 15-A filter bandwidth and with center wavelengths separated by 80 A, have been fabricated on a single substrate.

A human mesothelioma was heterotransplanted to nude mice, and the urinary excretions of hypoxanthine, xanthine, pseudouridine, orotic acid, 7-methylguanine, and 1-methylhypoxanthine have been followed before and after the tumor transplantation. The compounds were measured by means of isotachophoresis, which has been found a rapid and precise method. The tumor reached maximum size within 30 days, and at this time a significantly increased excretion of pseudouridine and hypoxanthine was observed. Tumor growth was stopped by chemotherapy (vincristine, cyclophosphamide, prednisolone, and Adriamycin), and corresponding to this, a decrease occurred in both pseudouridine and hypoxanthine excretion to normal values.

The brains from 100 consecutive patients dying in psychiatric departments were subjected to a neuropathological study with a quantitative evaluation of neurofibrillary tangles and senile plaques. Histologically, Alzheimer changes were found in 63.4% of the group with the clinical diagnosis of senile dementia and in 60% of the arteriosclerotic dementia group. In other clinical groups (schizophrenic, manic-depressive, and "other disorders") the percentage of Alzheimer changes was about 30. Thus, Alzheimer changes were not only present in the group of patients with the "correct" psychiatric diagnosis senile dementia, but were also frequent among patients with other psychiatric diseases where no clinical suspicion of Alzheimer's disease had been forecast. Alzheimer's disease may, thus, contribute to or be concealed by other psychiatric diseases and should be considered in all geronto-psychiatric cases.

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis is a rare condition characterized by a proliferation of the smooth muscle cells, mainly in the lymphatic system, giving rise to blockage of the thoracic duct with chylothorax and chyloascites. This condition was seen in a 34-year-old woman with an abdominal tumor that was subjected to fine needle aspiration. The cytologic diagnosis of this neoplasm is difficult since the cellularity and the cytologic picture indicate malignancy. The organoid configuration together with the chylus formation gave an important clue to the correct diagnosis, which, however, was not made until after a biopsy was performed and the cytologic and histologic findings were combined. The cytologic, histologic and electron microscopic findings are presented.

Hypoxanthine-xanthine washed out from kidney tissue during preservation has previously been found to be a reliable measure of the in vitro assessment of the deleterious effect of ischaemia on the functional regenerative ability of the graft. We have now studied the question: can uric acid accumulation in the isolated kidney graft be employed as a retrospective measure of the agonal ischaemia? We have found that uric acid alone accumulates in renal tissue during the agonal phase, in an amount that remains unchanged during the subsequent in vitro ischaemia. The determination of hypoxanthine-xanthine and uric acid in kidney perfusate samples during preservation must thus be presumed to be an optimal clinical-chemical method of assessing the graft ischaemia.

Ossifying fibromas of the jaws are generally well-defined benign tumors, so that adequate surgical treatment is usually associated with good therapeutic results. However, there are cases--especially in younger individuals with maxillary tumors--in which recurrences are seen, often with aggressive growth and subsequent local destruction. There is no characteristic histological appearance that identifies these "recurring types." A case is presented in which a benign ossifying fibroma was extirpated from a 17-year-old man. Twenty years later a recurrent tumor was found, in which histological examination showed development of a osteosarcoma. The clinical implications of this case are discussed.